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Hints for Economists in NSF Interdisciplinary Competitions
Nancy Lutz
Resources For the Future March 2011
Outline
• An Introduction to NSF
• Opportunities
• What does interdisciplinary mean?
• How does the review process work in different kinds of NSF competitions?
NSF in a Nutshell
• Independent federal agency
• Supports basic research
• Bottom-up orientation
• Uses grant mechanism
• Low overhead; highly automated
• Discipline-based structure
• Cross-disciplinary activities and opportunities
• Use of Rotators/IPAs
• Usual clients are academics
National Science Foundation
Inspector
General
National Science
Board
Director
Deputy Director
Staff Offices
Computer &
Information
Science
& Engineering
Engineering Geosciences Mathematics
& Physical
Sciences
Social, Behavioral
& Economic
Sciences
Education
& Human
Resources
Budget,
Finance
& Award
Management
Information
Resource
Management
Biological
Sciences
Social and Economic
Sciences
Behavioral and Cognitive
Sciences
Office of the Director
Science Resources Statistics
Directorate for Social,
Behavioral & Economic
Sciences
Opportunities for Funding
• Unsolicited competitions (standing programs)
• Special solicitations
• Dear Colleague Letter
• Rapid response research (RAPID)
• Early concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER)
Start With Your Idea
• Use nsf.gov for awards search
• Check awards by program, keyword, etc. (www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
• Read solicitation and/or DCL carefully (if not unsolicited competition)
• Check SBE page at nsf.gov for new opportunities.
Social and Economic Sciences
FY10 Program Allocations (millions of dollars)
• Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences $7.5
• Economics $25.8
• Innovation and Organizational Sciences $3.4
• Law and Social Science $5.1
• Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics $4.0
• Political Science $9.9
• Science and Society $9.0
• Sociology $9.5
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
SMA – MultiDisciplinary Activities
Programs and Target Dates
Science of Science and Innovation Policy Sept 9, Annually
SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Oct 9, Annually
Science of Learning Centers
Currently accepting Workshop, EAGER and RAPID proposals
Add’l Opportunities for Environmental SBE Scientists
• DCL: Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES)
• Program: Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH)
Understanding The Target
• Read the solicitation carefully.
• Be sure you understand what “interdisciplinary” means for your target.
• Contact the program directors ahead of target dates/deadlines
• Read the Grant Proposal Guide
Inquiries to Program Directors
• E-mail 1-2 pages with:
– Research Question(s)
- Theory on which you are building
- Methods
- Major Citations
- We can identify potential fit
- We can offer advice on some reviewing pitfalls
What is Interdisciplinary? Many Answers
• Cross-directorate research with team from different disciplines
– Example: Economists working with hydrologist (geoscience)
• Research with team from different social/behavioral sciences
– Example: Economist working with political scientist
Types of Review
• Mail plus Panel – the SBE standard
• Panel Only – Other directorates and almost all solicitations
Reviewing Criteria
• Intellectual merit
• Broader impacts
• Solicitations: Special Criteria
Intellectual Merit?
• NSF funds basic research
• Intellectual merit means increasing knowledge through developing and examining basic theories or methods
• In an interdisciplinary competition, we generally want a basic science contribution in both disciplines.
Broader Impacts
• Promote teaching, training and learning
• Broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)
• Enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships
• Disseminate results broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding
• Benefit society
SBE and Target Dates
• A Kinder, Gentler Directorate
• But Not Uniform in our Kindnesses
• Always contact program BEFORE target date. Especially important for co-review.
Reasons for Declinations
• “Trust-me” proposal
• No theory, no methods, or poor match between theory and methods
• Not feasible – Expertise gaps
– Insufficient funding
– Too ambitious
• Incremental contribution
• Bad luck
Collaborative Proposals
• Mechanism for researchers collaborating across institutions
– Solves many cross-institutional organizational problems for you
Rapid Response Research (RAPID)
• Research when data are ephemeral
• $200,000 maximum; 1 year
• 5 page project description
• Internal review only
• Contact program officer first
Early-concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER)
• Exploratory work on untested, potentially transformative ideas
• High-risk, high-potential payoff
• $300,000 maximum; 2 years
• Eight page descriptive
• Internal review or mail review
• Contact program officer first